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South Korea Stand in Way of India's U-17 World Cup Dream

The Indian football team’s youngest batch, the U-16 side coached by Bibiano Fernandes is on the brink of creating history as they have a chance to progress to the semi-final of the AFC U-16 Championship and in turn qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be held in Peru.

Image: @IndianFootball

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The Indian football team’s youngest batch, the U-16 side coached by Bibiano Fernandes is on the brink of creating history as they have a chance to progress to the semi-final of the AFC U-16 Championship and in turn qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be held in Peru. Standing in the way is a 90 minute battle against one of Asian football’s traditional powerhouses, South Korea in the quarter-final on Monday at the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Malaysia.

The last time India made it to this stage of the competition was 16 years ago, and the opponents that time were also Korea. India lost 1-3 on that occasion.

The Indian colts led by Vikram Pratap Singh matched the achievements of the 2002 batch after going through the group stage undefeated. India beat Vietnam (1-0) in the first match, before playing out two goalless draws against Iran and Indonesia to finish second in Group C.

“We know Korea Republic are the favourites and we are the underdogs,” said head coach Bibiano.

“But we have been the underdogs since the group-stages and are banking on the same against Korea Republic,” he said and further added that they will look to give their illustrious opponents a hard time.

“We all know the gravity of the moment and what it will mean for Indian football. But at the same time, we will play without pressure and back ourselves up as underdogs. We will fight,” he said.

Opponents South Korea was the first side to nail down a quarter-final berth after they saw off Australia (3-0) and then Afghanistan (7-0), before finishing their group stage with a win against Iraq (2-0). Against the prolific Koreans, India, who are yet to concede in 270 minutes will be without their central defender Bikash Yumnam as he is suspended for a double booking.

“We need to go ahead with what we have. There are other players in the squad, all capable enough,” Bibiano says.

“We all know the quality that Korea Republic possesses and we all know the damage they can do if we get complacent at the back. Our defence has been our strength in this tournament and the players have worked really hard to defend as a single cohesive unit.”

While this colts have shown the desire and hunger to do well, the problem of being unable to finish off chances in front of goal has been a common factor through the group stages.
“We have been creating chances and need to convert them. We could have easily won against both Iran and Indonesia. If we get complacent in front of goal, it will end badly for us,” Bibiano pointed out.

Even the players are raring to go and once again prove themselves. “We will give more than our cent percent in the quarters. These are the 90 minutes that we have worked hard and sacrificed a lot for,” said skipper Vikram Pratap.

“Anything can happen in a football match and anything can happen in the elimination rounds. We cannot predict the future but will play our hearts out to make a dream come true.”

Defender Gurkirat Singh added, “We are ready for them. We know the challenges we will face and the swiftness we will have to deal with. We need to stick to the instructions of the coach.”

The quarter-final tie will be telecast live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD, 6:15 PM onward on Monday, October 1.